What is a "Speed-X" move
A comprehensive answer to the most asked question in the history of Legion
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Can I use a Speed-X move to disengage?
Does a Speed-X trigger (Agile, Tactical, Steady, Relentless)?
Can I climb with a Speed-X move? Enter a transport? Exit a transport?
Can I use force push to throw an opponent off of a terrain? To rip them out of a transport?
These are the questions, and this post is here to provide answers. Even better, I’ll walk you through how speed-x works, so you can answer questions yourself, and you won’t even need to consult this article again*, and will feel confident about your answers.
*Assuming the rules are not updated to conflict with this article.
As of the time of this writing, the latest rules reference was 2.0.1, or 2020-12-11:
Unfortunately, and admittedly, the full Star Wars: Legion rules are not easy to traverse. Lots of information is stuck in the appendix, and you have to CTRL-F around related keywords to find the “full set of rules” for a particular interaction. Movement is one of these confusing rules!
Actions are specific interactions
Legion meaningfully separates an “X action” from “performing X”. For example, a dodge action lets you gain a dodge token, but gaining a dodge token is not a dodge action. Consider Defensive Stance:
You gain two dodge tokens (instead of one) only when you take a dodge action. Other effects that grant a dodge token are not automatically multiplied to grant two dodge tokens, as they are not dodge actions.
An action is something normally performed during your activation. If there is a command card or any other effect that provides additional actions, it is always explicit. Consider, for example, Pulling the Strings:
Palpatine, by use of an action (see the arrow icon), can effectively transfer an action to a friendly trooper unit at range 1-2, and let them take a move or attack action during Palpatine’s activation.
Ok, so now we’ve separated “X action” from “perform X” or “gain X token”, and we know that, just because you’re given the ability to “perform X” or “gain X token”, does not mean you do a “X action” of the same type. That’s important leading into the next section.
What are some types of actions you can do?
That won’t fit in this article. However, let’s review actions you can do that interact with movement, as that is the most commonly confused bit of Legion rules and it’s good to understand those first.
Move action
This is the easiest one to understand. A move action normally (skipping speeder units for a second) lets you perform up to a speed-X move, where X is your maximum speed printed on your unit card. So for example, on a Stormtrooper:
… if they performed a move-action, they could move “up to speed-2”, using either the speed-1 or the speed-2 move template. Similarly, lets look at Tauntaun Riders:
… if they performed a move-action, they could move “up to speed-3”. Additionally they get a lot of other free stuff as a result of that move action:
If they performed a standard move (see FAQ below), they gain a dodge token
After moving, they may perform a free attack action
Either before or after a standard move, they may perform a free pivot action
They ignore the effects of difficult terrain (they do not reduce their maximum speed by 1 when otherwise they would due to terrain determined to be difficult by the players)
It’s worth noting - most units are not a Tauntaun. They don’t get these freebies!
Withdraw action
The withdraw action, roughly speaking, has you use all available actions at the start of your activation, and if you do, grants a speed-1 move (!) that ignores the fact you are engaged in melee combat (i.e. lets you disengage).
A withdraw action is a move action, but it does not let you spend any free actions after performing it (including upgrades, force abilities, etc). It’s worth noting however, that Creature Trooper and Emplacement Trooper do get to spend free actions that are a result of moving (such as reposition, relentless, etc).
tl;dr: A withdraw action is a move action that grants a speed-1 move (with caveats).
Embark/Disembark action
The embark action is a type of move action that allows entering and exiting transports. The rules can get pretty complicated, and differ between open transports, closed transports, so I’m not going to reference them explicitly here.
However, the take away from this section should be that embark and disembark are discrete actions, you can’t use a move to embark, for example, you use an action to embark, and that might grant a speed-1 move.
Clamber action
The clamber action is a type of move action that allows traversing terrain heights. Just like embark and disembark, the rules can get pretty complicated - but, to clarify, again: clamber is a discrete action; you can’t use a move to clamber, you use an action to clamber.
Jump action
Similar to clamber, but even cooler. It’s a discrete action, you can’t use a move to jump.
The above section might lead to ask - ok, what is a speed-x move then?
A speed-x move is not a move action
A speed-x move, quite literally, is instructing you to do the following:
Place a movement template for the appropriate speed (speed-1, for example)
Perform a move
It is not an action. It doesn’t let you do cool things like clamber, jump, embark, attack, gain free dodge or aim tokens (as of the latest RRG). It just lets you perform a move.
Additionally, because it’s not a move action, it doesn’t use your maximum speed, it uses the speed printed (i.e. speed-1 or speed-2). Why does that matter? Difficult terrain only reduces your maximum speed, it doesn’t change the speed printed on the card (or effect). So effectively, ignore difficult terrain while doing a speed-x move.
Similarly, a unit with 1 or more immobilize tokens can still perform "speed–x" moves or have "speed–x" moves performed with it through effects that occur outside of its activation, even if its maximum speed is 0.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a standard move (versus a non-standard move)?
As mentioned above, there are multiple ways to perform a move action: some units (not all) can reverse, strafe, pivot, climb, clamber, embark, disembark, or jump, or they can perform a standard move.
A standard move is spending a move action to place a movement tool of your maximum speed (or less) to your unit leader (using the front notch if the unit is notched), performing a full or partial move along the tool, and establishing cohesion.
The vast majority of move actions are standard moves, as a result.
Is scatter or displacement-based cohesion a move?
No, scatter or displacement involves placing miniatures in cohesion. It is not a move, and as a result wouldn’t trigger the opportunity to spend standby tokens, for example.
Quiz
It’s time for a self-administered quiz in order to see if you can get the answers right!
Which of the following moves are legal with “Scout: 2”?
Answer: The first move is legal. If you were performing a standard move you would be forced to reduce your maximum speed by 1, and you’d have to use the speed-1 move template. However, a speed-2 move granted by Scout 2 does not use maximum speed!
The second move is illegal. There is no way to make or complete that move, as the terrain is too high to move over, and this particular unit has no keywords that allow traversing or ignoring the terrain (such as “Hover” or “Speeder”).
Which of these moves are legal with this command card?
Answer: The first move is illegal. Trooper units must spend all available actions as a withdraw action in order to withdraw from melee. The move is not legal because a speed-1 move cannot be performed.
The second move is legal. Leia is performing a valid speed-1 move, which, in turn engages an enemy trooper unit in melee.
The third move is illegal. While Luke is allowed to perform a speed-1 move, he isn’t able to use Jump on his unit card; Jump is a kind of move action, and a speed-1 move does not let you use alternative move actions, whether those are jump, climb, clamber, disembark, embark, etc.
The fourth move is illegal. Like Leia in move two, the Tauntaun can perform a partial speed-1 move to engage the Stormtroopers in melee. However, as it is not a move action, the Tauntaun unit is not able to perform free actions; that means they don’t get a free dodge token, nor do they get to attack as a result of moving.
Which of these moves are valid using force push?
Answer: The first move is illegal. Since force push just grants a speed-1 move, there is no way for Boba Fett to be forced off the building - he doesn’t Jump, nor does force push (for balance reasons, ostensibly) allow you to violate terrain and movement rules.
The second move is illegal. Units cannot voluntarily leave the battlefield. The only way for this type of move to be possible is if the unit panics, in which case they are defeated.
The third move is legal. Normally you cannot use a speed-1 move to withdraw from melee engagement, but force push specifies otherwise, reading “even if it is engaged”.
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